Ruins
by Stevethebarbarian
Summary: The Underground wasn't built in a day, but it fell in one. In the end, with dust all around, it was the two weakest monsters in the Underground that were left for each other. But, honestly, what was really left? Rated T for canon character death, suicide mention, and mature themes.
1. Sticks and Stones

The dust mingled with her tears as she sat there, realizing that it was over. It had been hours since Sans had killed the Human, and there was no sign of a reset. She had no way of knowing how many times he had won, how many times the Human fell before they finally gave up. She wondered how many more times Undyne would have had to have done it. She wondered how many times she _had_ done it.

Alphys cringed. She remembered it then. The self-sacrifice. The glory. The majesty. Undyne had become a god, for just a moment. She was so strong. So selfless. So determined. She had transformed into something the likes of which had never been seen, and would likely never be seen again. And in that moment, for the first and last time, she had had hope. When Undyne unlocked the true power within her, becoming the Undying, when she had showed the Human what monsters could really do, when she had set out to complete a task on the behalf of the whole world, it was then that Alphys truly believed that Undyne could succeed, that she could achieve victory for her people. That she could SAVE the WORLD.

But she couldn't. Eventually, Undyne fell just like every other monster. The only LOAD that Alphys remembered was the last one. The one where Undyne fell. The Human had dodged so effortlessly, struck with such force and precision. They weren't surprised by Undyne's transformation, and they were perfectly ready for it. And it was on this horrifying note that Alphys watched as Undyne the Undying gave lie to her name, falling to the ground and scattering to dust.

Alphys wished that she could remember. She wished so much that she could remember all the times Undyne's spear had hit home, all the times the Human had fell. She wished she could recall the feeling of joy that must have swirled through her as she saw Undyne succeed, she wished she could remember the look of elation that would have undoubtedly covered Undyne's face as the Human took their last breath.

But none of that had ever happened. The only one who could remember it was the Human, and now they were gone too. It was a strange feeling. Alphys felt like there was a hole, deep inside her. Like there was something missing. She knew what it was, of course. Undyne, Papyrus, everyone. She had lost so much, and yet there was something else.

Even when the Human had been destroying her world, piece by piece, there was a sense of normalcy. As if she had always known it would happen. As if, even with everything that was happening, she could still count on one thing.

But now even that was gone. The world was broken. The Human was gone. Everyone was gone. And now, sitting on the couch in her lab, stained with tears, dust, and ramen noodles, she wondered what was left. Sure, about 75 monsters were still alive. Sure, Sans had won, and the King was still there, and she was still alive. But for what? The Human's SOUL had shattered in a final act of defiance. They couldn't escape. They were _still_ stuck here, and no one had gotten by without loss. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends, spouses, everyone had lost someone. The poor comedian who's son had died, the two of them still on bad terms. He had never had a chance to apologize to his son.

The girl who had been trapped in Hotland, waiting patiently for _Alphys'_ laser to deactivate so she could go visit her father- now dead.

The dozens of monsters who adored Mettaton above anyone else, and who watched in abject horror as they saw their superstar die.

All of them, now, were crushed. Destroyed from the inside out. Even if their bodies hadn't turned to dust, their hearts had. And Alphys couldn't see one reason to go on. Not one reason not to end everything now. It just seemed like it would solve a lot of problems.

It seemed like what she deserved. She looked around. There were so many ways it could be done, and yet none of them seemed appropriate to the circumstance. She looked around and looked to her flowerpot, filled with buttercups. Perfect.

She walked over to the pot and sniffed the flowers, closing her eyes, before she moved a hand to begin picking them.

"hey, doc."

Alphys turned suddenly, looking behind her to the one who had interrupted her. She wasn't suprised. It was Sans, of course, having entered with perfect timing, just like always. She actually resented him a bit, for being so perfect, and the fact that despite his pathetic STATS, that he succeeded where she had failed.

Despite that, she appreciated everything he'd done. They all owed _everything_ to that little, lazy, unassuming skeleton.

But how much was "everything?"

"S-s-sans... I didn't e-expect..."

"you might wanna hold off on that for a bit. asgore's holdin' a party to celebrate the underground's survival. nobody wants you to miss it, and if a sudden tragedy were to happen, it'd probably be better for it to happen _after_ the party."

"Sans, I..."

"alphys. everyone owes their lives to you. if it weren't for you... if it weren't for your genius and guts, asgore and i would be the only ones left. _everyone_ would be dead but us two. i didn't save the underground, doc. you did. if you want to give up now, fine, i won't try to stop you. but just take this one opportunity to be happy again. i know these circumstances are hard, but it's gotta happen. just have one more good time, ok, doc?"

"You seem to be holding up pretty well."

"i'm not. i'm a wreck, alphys. but you and i... we've both got to get our acts together. just this once, doc."

"Ok. I'll go with you. New H-home, right?"

"yup. everybody's gonna be there."

"Literally everybody."

"... yeah."

"Alright. When's it going on?"

"right now. they sent me to find you."

"Ok. I'll just get dressed and jog down there real quick-"

"nope. you get dressed, and i'll take you there myself. i don't want you to get any ideas passin' by long drops."

"Damn it Sans, I..."

"one more day, alphys. just one more, ok?"

"I will, Sans."

"gotcha. you just get in your sunday duds, and i'll be waiting outside."

With that, Sans disappeared into thin air. Alphys looked down at the flowerpot she held in her hands, and silently and calmly placed it back in place, a few stray tears still rolling down her cheeks. She walked over to her closet and opened it up, reaching for her only nice piece of clothing, her favorite spotted dress. The second she touched it, though, she became lightheaded.

She saw a bright light, and somehow felt like she was having some sort of flashback. She saw herself wearing the dress, with Papyrus and Undyne and... the human? And Undyne was smiling, and Papyrus and the Human were just watching, and everyone was so... happy.

Huh?

Alphys shook her head. What the hell was that? Damned if she knew. The Human and her and Undyne and Papyrus? It didn't make the slightest iota of sense.

But, now that she thought about it, the dress really did make her think of Undyne. She'd always fantasized about... let's say _dating_ Undyne, and of course she always imagined she'd be wearing that dress. She really did like it. But she didn't feel like this was the right situation. She put it back on the hook and chose a stylish and clean lab coat instead, changing into it in seconds.

The moment she finished buttoning it up, Sans stepped into the room.

"you done?"

"S-sans!? Were you w-watching?"

"no. why would i be watching?"

"You just seemed like y-you... knew right w-when I was d-done."

"call it a lucky guess. either way, we've gotta get goin'."

Sans walked over to Alphys and took her by the hand.

"you're goin' to have to follow along pretty close. i know a shortcut, but it'd be a pity if you got lost on the way."

Sans walked straight into Alphys' closet, and stepped out of ASGORE's.

"H-how do you _do_ t-that!?"

"eh. it just takes some practice."


	2. Broken Bones

"Sans! Alphys! It is good to see the both of you!"

"howdy, asgore."

"H-hi, your majesty."

"Greetings! This celebration is only just beginning. Feel free to help yourself to the food. The festivities will begin shortly."

Alphys cringed a bit. She was completely uncomfortable in these surroundings, and the fact that only yesterday the Human had been massacring the monsters made the jovial circumstances incredibly incongruous. ASGORE, of course, was just the type to shrug off the disaster as a minor setback, and since now it was literally impossible for him to die of old age, he had plenty of time to make up for his former mistakes.

"A-are you s-sure t-this is a good idea, your majesty?"

"You can just call me ASGORE. I believe I do not have much of a right to be referred to as a king anymore."

"Y-your majesty, after everything you've done for the U-underground, you will _always_ be our King."

"I have done nothing for monster-kind. But please, enjoy the festivities. For better or for worse, we have won, and we are saved."

Alphys was actually quite shocked. ASGORE was showing genuine remorse and self-doubt. In all her 300 years of life, she'd never once seen ASGORE show even a hint of this sort of regret, save the period directly after ASRIEL and Chara's deaths.

She'd never seen him this shaken up. Perhaps this was what this "party" was for. Despite the mood, despite the monstrous catastrophe that had taken place, despite all the monsters who never came home, ASGORE still wanted to fill the Underground with hope. He still wanted to make everyone happy, and to make them believe that someday they'd get out.

Sans was looking around, giving of an air of happiness and supreme confidence. Monsters all around looked at him like they would some sort of god. Not a hero, not a superstar, and certainly not a buddy who hung with them at the bar sometimes.

It wasn't the way Sans liked to be looked at. All around, he saw monsters, clearly greiving, their tear-stained faces looking sadly toward the ground, toward the king or Alphys, or toward him. There was an impression of happiness, or at least the closest possible imitation, but none of them really felt good about any of this.

ASGORE noticed that the mood was clearly down, and he steeled his resolve for what came next. He'd been planning this since before he even announced the party, which was a long time for him.

"Attention! Attention monsters! Please, listen for just a moment!"

ASGORE cleared his throat and made sure everyone was paying attention before he spoke again.

"Now, I was not planning to make this announcement until later, but circumstances dictate that I must let this out now. I... have not been the king that monster-kind deserves. I was responsible for slaying those six children, and I was responsible for alienating my wife. The human who passed through here surely did so for revenge. To pay us back for the lives we've taken. Now, I do not believe that they were in the right, but... neither was I. And there is no question that I am the one responsible for the deaths that have occurred. On that note, I have decided that I can no longer continue ruling over this place. I have put much though on the subject, and I have decided that there is only one monster in the Underground who is worthy of taking my place. Our hero and savior- Sans the Skeleton."

At that, literally the entire Underground gasped together, all but Sans himself. He hadn't really _expected_ this, but that wasn't to say that it shocked him. He wouldn't have put it past the king to make such a hasty decision. But he wasn't about to allow the decision to stick. He was no ruler. He was certainly no king.

"eh, sorry, asgore, but i can't really take the position. i'm not really the _ruling_ type, and besides-"

"That is fine! Instead, I shall nominate our secondary hero and savior, the Royal Scientist and the one responsible for all of us still being alive- Alphys!"

And the Underground gasped even louder. Sans was genuinely surprised this time. Alphys was less of a ruler than he was.

"hey, uh, didn't you say i was the only one worthy?"

"Well, you are. But Alphys is still more worthy than myself. So she is the best choice!"

"K-king, I don't really think t-that t-th-this is a g-g-good idea!"

"Well, it is an idea you will have to live with. I am hanging up my trident and retiring to the RUINS. Unless Sans wants to take your place, you are now the Queen of the Underground."

"I... ASGORE, I never..."

"Cease and desist! My second to last order as king is to command you to rule the Underground to the best of your ability. My _last_ command is to make you Queen. Congratulations, Alphys. You are now the greatest among your monster brethren. This is both a blessing and a curse. Make of it what you will. It was nice knowing all of you. Goodbye."

And with that, ASGORE DREEMURR, King of all Monsters, the Grand Spear of Justice, the Commander of the Underground, and the most powerful monster of all time stepped out of the room and began the short walk to the RUINS.

Alphys was in absolute shock. She had never, in all her life, imagined that she would become the Queen of All Monsters. Well. She had imagined it once or twice, but she'd always daydreamed about ruling alongside ASGORE, not in his stead.

"Oh my god. S-sans, you need to t-take my place. I c-can't imagine ruling over the U-underground! I c-can't handle this! Y-you need to-"

Sans looked around and saw everyone in the area surging toward them, questions ripe on their lips.

"maybe we should continue this conversation elsewhere."

Sans stepped forward and grabbed Alphys by the hand, disappearing into thin air once again, with her this time.

When they reentered reality, the were in Snowdin, nearly the other side of the Underground. Here, they were alone.

"Whoah. That was... S-sans! You need to become king! I... I c-can't do this!"

"welp. looks like you're gonna have to, 'cause i'm not doin' it."

"You can't _do_ this, Sans! You can't _do_ this to me!"

"i figure i'm savin' your life. you've got the underground on your shoulders. they rely on you."

Sans looked toward the ground for a moment.

"let me be straight with you for a second. i've had dreams about this before. everyone dies but a few monsters in hotland, and the human kills asgore and leaves. and it's just you. you _can_ rule, alphys. maybe you don't think so, but you _can._ and if you agree to do this, to be the queen... i'll be with you every step of the way."

"Sans... I don't think I can..."

"see? it went from "i can't" to "i don't think i can." take just one more step. you've done it before, and you can do it again. we both know it."

"Sans, I was about to _k-kill_ myself earlier today! I c-can't be r-responsible for a whole n-nation!"

"yeah, you can. one more step, alphys. one more. that's gotta be the motto, eh? one more."

"... Alright. I think I can do this. I... I _can_ do this. I've got to- who are we _kidding!?_ Y-you know I c-can't, I know I c-can't, we both know I-"

" _can._ you _have to._ alphys, listen. i didn't save the underground. you did. i saved two people, you saved more than seventy. asgore was right about one thing, anyway. you're more worthy of ruling this place than he is. you're _certainly_ more worthy of it than i am, not to mention anyone else. sure, you've made some mistakes. but you had the _guts_ to stop hidin' em when the chips were down. you had some skeletons in your closet, but they're gone now. they're in the light. and if that isn't real guts, i don't know what is. you're scared, alphys, and you think that makes you cowardly. you've made mistakes, and you think that makes you stupid. you've had some bad times, and you think that means life isn't worth living."

Sans took a step closer to Alphys and looked her straight in the eye.

"none of those things are true. alphys, you're courageous and genius and your life is _worth it._ never forget that. you couldn't save undyne, and i couldn't save papyrus. so we're alike. we have one difference, though. you _do_ have the ability to do this. i don't. you're the ruler the underground needs, not me."

He grabbed both of her hands in his.

"and you can accomplish anything. so. go out there and check in with me in a day. if it's not worth it, then go ahead. end it all. but if i was right, you remember this. even if life tore you **down** **to the bone,** you've still got some real muscle left. you always will. you've saved this place once. don't give up on it now. undyne wouldn't have."

"Dammit Sans, you asshole."

Alphys had been quietly crying the whole time Sans was speaking, but now, chuckling through a sob, she gave off a ghost of a smile.

"You played the Undyne card on me."

Alphys took a step closer to Sans and wrapped her arms around him.

"Y-you know... no one's _ever_ said something like that to me."

"eh, ya needed it, kid."

Alphys suddenly recoiled away from Sans.

"I... I, uh, g-got s-sorta en-enthusiastic!"

"forget about it. let's get back to the castle and see if asgore had the brains to leave his crown behind, eh?"

"Let's get this done."


	3. Never Hurt Me

Alphys took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. She adjusted her coat, closed her eyes, and reached down, picking up king ASGORE's crown. Her hands shook as she looked down at it. It was such a small thing. Trifling, even. In truth, it meant nothing. And yet it was the message that it carried that really had an impact for her. When she put this crown on her head, she would be the Queen of the Underground.

She'd insisted that neither Sans nor any of the other monsters be present for her self-coronation. She knew that Sans would be with her, helping her every step of the way, through every trial and tribulation as Queen.

This was one challenge that she wanted to face alone. She wanted to prove to herself that she had the courage to commit to something like this, to do something selfless for the sake of the whole Underground.

She was _not_ going to let everyone down. She wasn't going to sully Undyne's memory by wasting the opportunity she had given all of monster-kind. Alphys found it hard to imagine herself ruling the Underground, but...

Sans believed in her. And if Sans believed in her... then she believed in herself. She lifted the crown to her head, let out a deep breath, and lowered it slowly down, placing it between her spines. The sense of finality was staggering.

She wondered if this could have gone any other way, but quickly pushed those thoughts out of her mind. This was no time for speculation. This was a time for action. She merely didn't know what course of action to take.

"Sans! Come in here! Immediately!"

"what's wrong, your majesty?"

"Ugh. I'm j-just joking with you, S-sans. I... need help. Of c-course."

"with what?"

"I'm the Q-queen. Whatever you w-want to say about A-ASGORE, everyone can agree on o-one thing. His g-greatest failing was inaction."

"aha. if you're gonna be the queen, you wanna _be_ the queen."

"Yes. But I don't know what _to_ do."

"well, there are... a lot of empty jobs now. you could delegate tasks to individual monsters. surely you're smart enough to make better decisions then they are."

"Y-you're probably r-right. B-but..."

"don't wanna argue, eh? you're the queen _and_ the scientist here, alphys. you're smarter than i am. what's the problem?"

"I... I d-don't want to v-violate their freedom of c-choice. I'm a Q-queen, b-but... I d-don't want to be remembered as the d-despot that saved the monsters. I'd... I'd rather be r-remembered as the just ruler that tried. It's better to die happy then to live miserable."

"not sure if i agree with that one. but you can handle this, fair ruler or not. if you don't think you need to be a dictator to save them, then you don't need to be a dictator to save them. this is _all you,_ alphys."

"Thanks, Sans. I... I know what we need to do."

"see. i told ya. you don't need me for everything."

It was only about thirty hours later that the Underground was working in full swing. Burnt buildings were being rebuilt, food was being grown, the dead were being given proper funerals, and the monsters were too busy to be unhappy.

Alphys had, of course, been worried about the consequences of forcing the Monsters into manual labor. But it had to happen, and Alphys made sure to keep things as free as possible. While each Monster was required to spend 55 hours a week working for the mutual benefit of all Monsters, they could choose what their temporary profession would be and also choose when their work would take place, presuming they put in 155 hours every 3 weeks. She also made sure to do her own fair share of manual labor, proving to the monsters that she was not the kind of queen who would spend all her time giving orders. Even with all her precautions, though, Alphys was extremely worried that the monsters would resent the relatively heavy workload, and that she was somehow defying their rights by forcing them to work.

But, despite all of Alphys' fears, things turned out better than she could have ever hoped. The monsters were _happy._

They were working hard, feeding themselves, and, most importantly, _accomplishing something._ Under ASGORE, it had seemed like nothing ever got done. But now, with Alphys in charge, the monsters were taking their fate into their own hands for the first time that anyone but Gerson could remember.

The old kook constantly talked about it. How the monsters had never really worked for themselves since Chara and ASRIEL had died. Honestly, since the Barrier went up. He said that monsters had always relied on someone else. For ASGORE or Undyne or _someone_ to collect six SOULS and free them. They just sat around in complacency and let everyone else do the work.

But now, under Queen Alphys, the Underground was vibrant and self-sufficient again. They had to be, of course, but for some reason Gerson was sure that, had ASGORE still been in charge, the monsters would have lived half-starved in Alphys' basement for a long time. But it _wasn't_ like that now.

Gerson wasn't the only one singing Alphys' praises, either. The whole Underground, despite the dire circumstances, seemed as pleased as they could imaginably be. They were sure that ASGORE's successor would be able to succeed where he had failed. Despite Alphys' original lack of confidence, they all believed in her 100%. They thought that if anyone could get them topside, it was Queen Alphys. Everyone was on her side.

Well, almost everyone. There were a few who were... less than pleased with her coronation. The Monster Kid, for instance, seemed to hate her with a passion rivaled only by his nigh-worship of the late Undyne the Undying. He seemed to feel that, by putting Alphys in charge of the Underground, ASGORE was sullying Undyne's memory. He felt that she was the very _opposite_ of what the Underground needed, and that ASGORE should have continued ruling, considering that he was as close as someone could get to being Undyne. He thought Alphys a coward and a weakling, and did everything he could to get his point across.

Flowey, too, resented Alphys' rule. Despite his lack of monsterhood, he still held the deep-rooted belief that a DREEMURR should always be the ruler of all monsters, as it had been for over 10,000 years. He saw ASGORE's retirement as an act of cowardice, and the forced manual labor an act of injustice. He didn't care about the other monsters, but he still felt that Alphys was doing absolutely _everything_ wrong.

Grillby's granddaughter, Fuku Fire, resented the fact that Alphys was making it difficult to run her late grandparent's business, as Alphys focused most of the work on Hotland, Waterfall, and the Capital, rather than Snowdin. Only a few patrons ever dropped by Grillby's, and Fuku found it hard to keep a profit going. Unlike most of Alphys' haters, though, Fuku had nothing against the Queen's constant companion, Sans the Skeleton, also her most regular patron. She could expect Sans every single day at 3 o'clock sharp, the moment he stopped his work and wanted lunch. They could talk for hours about her grandfather, and what the Underground had once been. Grillby Fire had often told her about the skeleton brothers, and she had gained an admiration for Sans before she ever met him. She commiserated about his brother, he commiserated about her grandfather, and he finally started paying off his tab.

On top of those major three, a few other monsters did object to Alphys' reign. But the number was surprisingly small. Her rule was more popular, not to mention successful, then she could have ever imagined.

But in just a few days, that mentality was going downhill. The monsters were tired, Sans was tired, and Alphys was tired most of all. Although her job seemed like an easy one on the surface, it was clear that it was getting to her more than one would expect. She solved disputes, ordered the workers, and worked herself. She spent all her time either thinking or working, and between those two activities, she was both physically and mentally exhausted, in a way she wasn't at all used to.

None of the monsters were. And as their levels of energy went down, their mood did too. Grumbling was heard, and a few more nods of agreement were seen every time the Monster Kid launched into one of his furious rants. The kid was surprisingly well-spoken for someone as naive as he was, and managed to sway an impressive number of monsters to his cause.

Alphys, exhausted and distressed, slumped down in her throne, having just come home from a day of hard work and hatred from the Monster Kid, who'd followed her the whole day. She dared not take action, lest the Underground pity him and turn against her. This, of course, was her greatest fear. That the monsters would decide that she _wasn't_ the great ruler that Sans thought she was.

"you ok, alphys?"

"Y-yeah. I'm... fine."

"alphys. snap out of it and talk to me. you said you were gonna let me help you, but i can't if you won't talk to me."

Alphys closed her eyes and cringed.

"S-sans, I c-can't handle this. I... I've been l-lazy my whole life. I've n-never d-dealt with criticizm, much less d-death threats."

"alphie... the only one sending you death threats is a kid who doesn't even have arms."

"N-no, Sans! J-just today, Comidrake, the bird comedian... he came up to me, and he was s-screaming. H-he said... he said it was my fault that his s-son was dead. T-that his wife was... what she is. He... he just l-lost it, S-sans! And the worst part of it is... he's r-right. It _is_ my fault, and..."

"calm yourself, alphys. these are hard times, but you've gotta think about it logically. was it your fault the human fell?"

"... N-no."

"well then, snowdrake would have died regardless of your mistakes. and wasn't snowy's mother fallen down before she ever got to you?"

"... Y-yes. S-she was."

"well then, all you did was _save_ her life. sure, maybe you should have brought the amalgamates into the light sooner, but you _did it_ when it really mattered. snowdrake would be in the same position that he is now with or without you, and his mother would be _dead_ if it weren't for you. you saved one life, and you didn't destroy even one. it's not your fault, alphys."

"It's... it's not j-just that. E-everything I've ever done has been either a failure or a lie! The A-amalgamates were a d-distaster! F-flowey was all my f-fault, M-mettaton wasn't a robot with a S-SOUL, he was a ghost inside a robot! T-the only person I t-think I've ever loved d-died before I ever had a chance to s-say what I felt, and the m-monsters are _still stuck down here!_ My whole life is one massive FAILURE! And y-you, you've... you've only ever set out to do one thing, Sans, and you succeeded! You're the h-hero here, n-not me! You're too perfect, S-sans! W-why are you... why are you so _damn_ perfect..."

Alphys collapsed forward out of her throne, landing on her knees as she started crying uncontrollably, looking up at Sans.

"W-why do you have to be so p-perfect?"

Sans shuddered once, before his left eye ignited in flame. His smile faltered for a moment.

" **there's no determination left in the fridge, alphys."**

With that, he disappeared into thin air once again.

Alphys felt a sudden catch in her breathing as she realized what he meant, what he'd sacrificed, and what she'd just said. She held her head in her hands as she sobbed harder and harder.


	4. Rise, Fall, Repeat

Alphys stepped back into her old lab and looked around. She was having trouble handling the events that had occurred over the last few days, and the worst part of it was that now she was doing it alone. She hadn't seen Sans in almost a full 48 hours, ever since she'd chased him off in her distress and rage.

She couldn't rule the Underground like this. It was true that there were only about 25 monsters in the Underground who legitimately wanted someone other than her to rule, but that represented almost a third of the total head count. Worst of all, she feared, it was possible that Sans was among them.

She had been wrong, she now realized. Sans wasn't perfect, but when compared to her imperfection, he appeared that way. Sans was the only one left who she cared about, and now he hated her too.

She had nothing left. The only thing that kept her going was her responsibility to the survival of the Underground. And even that was slowly going out the window as more and more monsters decided that Queen Alphys wasn't the miracle worker that ASGORE had apparently believed she was.

 **"You can't honestly believe that she's the one who deserves to rule."**

"fuku, it doesn't matter who _deserves_ what. the fact is, of all the monsters alive, the only one who could possibly pull the underground out of this hole is alphys."

 **"She's a coward. She's never accomplished anything in her life. Her greatest achievements were all lies. She ignores the needs of her people and simply forces the monsters to obey her every whim. She may be smarter than most of them, but that doesn't give her the right to dictate their every action."**

"actually, she _does_ have the right to dictate their every action, because she's the queen. on top of that little piece of information, she isn't dictating anyone. she's forcing us all to work, sure, but we get to choose what we want to work at and when we want to work, and the simple fact is that she doesn't have a _choice._ the underground has to get rebuilt somehow."

 **"Well, apparently Snowdin doesn't."**

"you can't grow food in snowdin."

" **You can't grow food in Hotland either."**

"Somebody's gotta run the CORE, and you sure as hell can't do that from snowdin."

 **"Stop being so reasonable."**

"not gonna happen, fuku. alphys is the queen that we need. you can't argue with her results. despite the fact that 90% of the underground's homes were destroyed, there is not a single homeless monster down here. it's been six days. nobody's starving, the undernet is back up, and the CORE was running at 60% capacity last time i checked, which was a few days ago. she's actually getting things done. i'm sorry that your business is hurting. nobody loved this place more than me, and it _hurts_ to see it dying like this. but the fact is, these are dire times. the same human that killed my brother and your grandfather also mortally wounded the entire underground. alphys is a miracle worker. she's bringing this place back from the brink. but you can't expect it to happen in a day, you can't expect it to happen in a week, you can't expect it to happen in a year. but it _will_ happen."

 **"You... really do believe in her, don't you?"**

"yeah. i do. even if she doesn't look like, alphys should've been made queen years ago. sure, she's scared, and sure she's made mistakes. but it's the things you _don't_ hear about that prove she's the one we need. sure, she didn't _build_ the CORE, but she turned it from a building-sized heat sink that might as well have made electricity as a side-effect to a massive complex that powers the entire underground and has plenty of energy left over. sure, she didn't really make an artificial soul, but that distracts from the fact that she _did_ make the most advanced and powerful robot ever created. sure, the amalgamates... didn't work out too well, but nobody mentions that she successfully brought dozens of monsters back to life after they fell down, and she successfully revived another monster years after he died. alphys is a genius, but the only thing anyone focuses on is her failings, not her successes. she's got real guts and real brains. unlike us, i guess."

 **"Hah. But I really don't see how any of this makes her a real leader. Sure, she's smart, but... she isn't queen material!"**

"fuku, listen. you can be real **hot-headed,** but you've gotta calm down and _think._ yeah, alphys has made mistakes, and yeah, she's the reason your business is struggling _in the moment._ but in a couple of years, you'll be a big deal again, the underground will be saved, and everyone will see their mistakes. but the problem is the people who aren't gonna let her last for a couple of years. we just need some help. alphys and i need to know we've got somebody in our corner."

 **"... Damn it, Sans. I know... I know that I... you know what? You're right. I'm being stupid. Listen, I'll help you two. But don't expect me to be all buddy-buddy with Alphys or anything."**

Sans' smile grew exponentially.

"huh. didn't see that coming, to be honest."

 **"Well. You're very convincing."**

"well, thanks. i can't tell you how much i appreciate this."

 **"Just pay your fucking tab."**

"i'll get around to it. here's 200 GOLD, by the way."

 **"Thanks. 5 payments down, a thousand to go."**

"workin' on it. workin on it."

Alphys jumped when he popped out of the ground. The motion was sudden and unexpected. Flowey had revealed himself since the Human died, but she'd never seen her Vessel face-to-face until now.

"Howdy!"

"F-flowey, r-right?"

"That's it! I was just wondering how things were going with you as Queen! Just curious, of course."

"Y-you really want to know?"

"Of course. I've got _all the time in the world."_

"Alright. It's... n-not going well. I... I tried to help the Underground, but..."

Despite the air of causality that Alphys was trying to give off, she was absolutely screaming inside. She didn't know how to react to this.

It was clear that the flower wasn't completely furious, given that she was still alive. But it might just be an act, and she couldn't think of anything better to do than simply give him a straight answer.

"I can't. T-they... won't let me. T-they blame me for e-everything. Not j-just what I've actually d-done, but thing's I h-haven't. But y-you... I'm so sorry."

"Huh?"

"I... I'm the one who made your life hell, ASRIEL. Y-yeah, I'm not _that_ stupid. I k-know who you are. And I k-know what you were. I know... what I m-made you."

Alphys was filled with BRAVERY, KINDNESS, and INTEGRITY.

"I... I'm not asking for f-forgiveness, and I'm n-not asking for you to change your opinion about me. I'm not _asking_ for anything. I just want you to know that... I'm sorry. And if you'll let me... maybe we could find you... a better vessel? I know nothing I can do could ever make up for what I've done to you, what I've probably forced you to go through. But I want to do my best to make it right. I'm the Queen of the Underground, and people believe I shouldn't be. I want to do my best to prove them wrong. I had no choice but to become queen. I want to do my best to make sure it wasn't a mistake."

Flowey was absolutely flabbergasted. This was _not_ the Alphys he knew. Not the Alphys whom he'd tortured, played with, broken, over a million RESETS. The Alphys who was so cowardly, never taking action. The Alphys who never cared that she had hurt him.

But _this_ Alphys didn't seem to be doing any of those things. _This_ Alphys was decisive, almost confident. _This_ Alphys cared. That didn't make any sense.

Flowey raised himself by lengthening his stem, bringing himself up to Alphys' level.

"That's... why would you do that?"

"Do... what?"

"Why would you want to help me?"

"... To make up for what I did."

"But it doesn't make sense. You'd be accomplishing nothing by placing me in another vessel, and I've done so much to hurt you people."

"Hm?"

"I... I was egging the Human on and on. I'm half the reason this all happened!"

"Oh, don't give yourself so much credit. I was watching on the cameras, the Human would've killed you too if they had wanted to. You thought you were in charge, but you were never in control. ASRIEL, listen. I've hurt you more than anyone else. I want to make up for that."

"NO! That doesn't make any sense! Why are you being so nice to me!?"

"Because... I _need_ to."

Alphys reached out toward Flowey, who actually growled at her a bit, but somehow allowed her to touch one of his petals. Suddenly, everything went white for a moment.

Alphys saw herself, Undyne, Sans, ASGORE, Papyrus, and some female Boss Monster tied up in vines, at the mercy of Flowey. She saw the Human, being attacked by Flowey, and she felt love for the human, and feared that they would be harmed. She used her electric magic to protect them from Flowey's bullets, and watched as Undyne did the same with her spears, Papyrus and Sans using bones, and the Boss Monsters using flame.

She didn't understand. Why would she want to help them? Even Undyne wanted to help them. It didn't make any sense.

It was at the very moment that Alphys had whited out that Flowey had experienced an equally strange sensation. As Alphys touched him, it felt as if a shock of electricity had passed from her to him. He felt sensations running through him, so familiar, and yet so unfamiliar. Sensations that he knew he'd felt before, but that he couldn't put his finger on.

He and Alphys regained their composure at nearly the same instant.

"Whoah."

"Y-you said it. D-did that happen to you too?"

"Yeah. And... yeah. I'll... I don't..."

"You're trying to tell me that you accept? P-perfect! I'll meet you in the lab, 12 noon exactly, two days from now. I should have a vessel ready by then. Got it?"

"You... yeah, I understand. I, err..."

"Your welcome. Now get out of here, OK?"

"Sure."

With that, Flowey popped into the ground and Alphys let out a massive breath she'd been holding for some time at that point. She couldn't believe how successful that had been, despite being interrupted by that strange vision. Not only had she managed to somewhat sway Flowey to her side, she'd also massively reduced the risk of the flower LOADing or RESETing.

She couldn't honestly claim that her decision to move ASRIEL's essence into a new vessel was entirely selfless. She planned to reduce the amount of DETERMINATION in this new vessel's body, making it incapable of manipulating the timeline. But despite these ulterior motives, Alphys actually felt good about her decision, and she felt that perhaps she _was_ really helping ASRIEL by doing what she planned to do.

Flowey reappeared miles away, in Waterfall. He was absolutely shocked by the sudden turn of events. Not only had Alphys decided to help him, not only was he getting a better vessel, but he had _felt_ something. When Alphys touched him, it was like some of the energy from her SOUL passed into his body.

For just a moment, Flowey the Flower was filled with KINDNESS, BRAVERY, and INTEGRITY.

How had that _happened!?_ What was going on?! First he'd felt a hint of happiness when he recognized the human as Chara, then a bit of fear when they killed Undyne the Undying. And now he was filled with more emotions than he'd had in hundreds of years.

This wasn't supposed to be happening. This was all wrong.

Or was it right?


	5. Sempiternus

lphys was toiling wordlessly at the machine, without a clue of what she should really be doing. Sure, she was keeping herself busy. Tightening connections, fixing short-circuits, improving battery life. But those weren't what she was worried about. None of that changed the fact that she was planning on using this machine for something that it was definitely _not_ originally built for, and she had no idea if it was going to work. Perhaps, she figured, it would have been wise to edit the blueprints before she used them to rebuild it, rather than build the machine and then edit it after it was complete, but she was afraid that it wouldn't be complete in time if she did so.

She knew she couldn't expect any help. Her only true ally was a little yellow flower that had proven himself to be a psychopath over and over. And even he was only helping her since he'd been bribed. The fact was, she'd alienated her best living friend, and now she was living through the consequences. But in the day or so since she'd talked to Flowey, she'd found herself much more confident and decisive. Sure, she was alone. But that didn't mean she couldn't succeed without help.

She was going to SAVE the Underground, whether or not it wanted her to. She was going to SAVE the Underground with or without Sans' help. She didn't need him anyway.

"heya, alphie. gettin' nostalgic?"

Alphys suddenly turned on her heels, wide-eyed. She expected anyone but Sans here. And yet there he was, standing there with his hands in his pockets and a goofy grin on his face.

Her eyes were watering before she even spoke.

"S-sans! Y-you're... what... where have you been, Sans?"

She ran closer to him, almost tripping over her own feet more than once.

"eh. just tyin' up a couple of loose ends for ya. your haters can be pretty tough to sway, but i think i did a good enough job."

"W-WHAT!? You're not... upset? I thought you were... I thought I'd l-lost you Sans!"

"hey. i left for like... two or three days, max. that kinda happens a lot with me. and as for being upset... what would i be upset about?"

"Y-your... I... I was s-so angry, and i-insensitive, and I... I didn't r-realize what I was s-saying. I was yelling at you and b-being so c-cruel, and, and, and-"

"calm yourself, alphie. you're hyperventilating. listen. tensions were high, ok? so maybe i was a bit upset when it happened. but i'm just fine now, and you should be too."

"Sans... I know you're trying to write this off, but... I'm so s-so... _so_ sorry. I k-know I h-hurt you. And I know you'd probably just w-write this off if I didn't say anything, but... I'm s-so sorry."

"it's alright, alphys. i understand. i know i hurt you too. i've found that i'm not really the most comforting type. sometimes is _isn't_ the best to always have a smile. but i've got to smile, because if i don't smile, i cry."

"Sans, I-"

"six hundred and fifty eight thousand, two hundred and eleven."

"W-what? What are you- Oh my god."

"yup. that's how many times they died before they quit. that's how much it took to break their determination. i remembered them all, just little flashes. i remembered everything that worked, and everything that didn't. i remembered what they said, what they tried to use to break me. i remembered easy victories and close calls. i remembered it all. i fought harder every time they almost got me, and after six hundred and fifty thousand deaths, they finally quit. they decided that their genocide wasn't worth dying over and over and over and over, and they gave up. they ran out of determination and left."

"Wow. Y-you... you were f-fighting for that long too. Y-you... you had to deal with six hundred thousand consecutive fights too. how did you do that, sans? how?"

"like i said, aphie. there isn't any determination left in the fridge. it does wonders for a body, i guess."

"I n-never would've thought that you... W-wait. Y-you remembered the L-LOADS?"

"to a point, yeah."

"D-did you see... U-undyne? D-did you see how m-many times she..."

"wrecked their shit? oh yeah. well, sorta. i couldn't tell you exactly. i hadn't taken the determination at the time, and that makes a difference. but, uh, yeah. i'd be willing to wager on tens of thousands of times. and i gotta say, even with every single time i killed 'em, i never saw 'em get stomped harder than the first time they saw undyne transform. it was "harder than that," and they slashed her. and it did _absolutely nothing._ they flipped their shit, and after undyne impaled 'em a few thousand times, the expression on their face was... they weren't even angry. it was just like "what the hell?"

Alphys smiled, chuckling a bit.

"Thanks, Sans. For everything. For everything you've done for the Underground. For everything you've done for me. For everything you've done for the whole world. For _everything,_ Sans. You're the only one who really knows what this place needs. If I didn't already know the answer, I'd offer you a kingship right now."

"eh. just give me some time to get to know ya first, and then ask me again."

"Huh? What are you-"

Alphys suddenly blushed the deepest crimson of her life as she realized what Sans meant. Oh god. Was this guy for real right now?

"OMFG, Sans, you've got to be kidding me! You're j-joking, r-right?"

"when am i ever not?"

"T-true enough."

"anyway, whatcha workin' on?"

"It's, uh, a l-long story. I'm uh, r-repurposing Mettaton's o-old chassis."

"i can, tell. but why?"

"It's... a new v-vessel. For Flowey."

"really? you think he'd really accept that?"

"He already did."

" **what?!** you convinced him to transfer bodies?! you're even more of a genius then i thought you were!"

"H-hey. Thanks, Sans."

Alphys was blushing again.

"eh, i just can't beleive it. flowery trashbags can be tough to work with, trust me."

"I... figured that one out! But... I really... I really need to do this. To m-make up for what I did to him."

"uh, could you maybe explain? cause i've been off the grid for a bit. i'm not super up to date."

"Oh! Of course, s-sorry! So... F-Flowey is the King's son. He's ASRIEL DREEMURR."

Sans' smile faltered for a moment in confusion and surprise.

"that's a new one. uh, how?"

"W-well, as you know, A-ASRIEL died and t-they sprinkled his dust in their garden. It was y-years later that I started my D-DETERMINATION experiments. S-so I had to c-choose a vessel to t-try to infuse with DT."

"and you picked the freaking flower."

"Y-yeah. S-somehow, ASRIEL's essence, it... somehow fused with the flower and... Flowey happened. I w-want to help him."

"you brought him back to life, though. shouldn't he be grateful?"

"N-no, Sans. D-don't... don't even suggest that. Y-you really couldn't be more i-insensitive. H-he's completely soulless. He's got no emotions. H-he... did some pretty bad things back when he could LOAD and RESET."

"oh god."

"Y-yeah. The Human is d-dead. He can p-probably do it again."

"you're not just a genius, alphys, you're also probably one of the best people i've ever met. you found a way to make flowey's life better and save the world at the same freaking time. god, asgore should've retired sooner."

"Thanks so much S-sans. I really can't say how much I appreciate that."

"eh. it's nothin'. either way, you're tryin' to make it... bossy?"

"That's the general idea. I kinda want it to be... as similar to ASRIEL's original body as possible."

"tough job, considering what it was made to look like."

"You said it. Best I can do is shorten the legs and add horns and ears. Hell, _that_ isn't even easy. It could, uh, also use a haircut."

"i can see that. when are you planning on, uh, making the transfer?"

Alphys looked at the clock on the wall above them.

"22 hours, 17 minutes, and approximately 30 seconds."

"uh, that doesn't sound like very long."

"It's not. That's why this is so... MacGyverish."

"say again?"

"Oh, yeah. You're not a big fan of human TV."

"not too much of a human guy, yeah."

"Sorry."

"it's no problem. i know this was hard on you too."

"Yeah, but you... Ugh. You and your brother... Undyne talked about you two all the time. You were so close, so... undivided. You loved each other more than anything, and to see you torn apart, I... I'm sorry. I know this is more than a sore subject for you."

"doncha worry about it. papyrus is... in a better place. i... damn it. i keep trying to rationalize it, but..."

"You can't rationalize something with no reason, right?"

"that's it. the human just came through and..."

"Took everything."

"i've never felt so..."

"Helpless."

"never so..."

"Alone."

"in all my life, i never felt so..."

"Weak."

"that's it. that's all true. when i killed the second human, i really did feel bad. they only fought in self-defense, and even when they did, they never killed anybody. it really did shake me up. but this one. **this one.** my rage was half of what kept me going all that time. killing them over and over and over... i _enjoyed it._ "

"Heh. I know I'm being insensitive, but... I feel your pain, Sans. I killed the sixth human and I haven't used my magic since. But when I saw U-Undyne fall, I... I started rebuilding NEO the second I got off the phone with ASGORE. I was sure they would be second only to Undyne the Undying! I was sure that they could at least slow them down, but..."

"titanium ain't much to a human that can kill undyne the undying, eh?"

"R-right. His defenses were... nothing. And he... he... he died too, just because of me. DAMN IT! I'm so sorry, Sans. I lost a friend and a girl I barely knew. I feel like a freak trying to compare it to what you went through."

"don't worry. papyrus was all that mattered to me. but i know what you lost too. i've been through that before, and it hurts. i know. i don't want you to have to lessen your loss in the face of mine. you've gone through hell, alphys. and you came out. that's more than a lot of people can say."

"Thank you. I'm so sorry. I guess we've both lost everything."

"eh."

Sans looked Alphys in the eye.

"not everything."


	6. Belief

Alphys was flipping out. She had run so many tests in the last 18 hours, foregoing sleep, food, and drink in her desperation. But there was simply no way around it. Sans had just come back in from his second visit to Snowdin to try and help Fuku Fire with her packing, and now Alphys was trying to figure out how to explain this predicament.

"S-sans, we've got a problem."

"yeah?"

"W-well, I've d-done a l-lot of tests and a l-lot of experimenting, but... n-no matter what I d-do, there are only t-two ways to g-get Flowey into t-this new v-vessel."

"and they are?"

"W-well the f-first one is to m-make it like a r-robotic suit, a-and j-just put his f-flower body i-inside, but... t-that doesn't a-acomplish anything."

"doesn't it give 'im some limbs and such? ain't that the general idea?"

"N-not really. T-they still wouldn't be his. W-we aren't trying to make the w-world more convenient for h-him. He can a-already do anything s-someone with l-limbs can, other than l-leave the ground. We're t-trying to give him l-limbs he controls _himself._ To make him f-feel... as much like he did when he was a-alive as p-possible. B-besides, h-he'd still be able to LOAD and RESET in a b-body like that."

"so what's the other option?"

"I was... r-reading some of my p-predecessor's notes. T-they were r-really faded, s-so it was hard to m-make out m-most of it... hell, couldn't even f-figure out w-what the plans I was reading were even _for._ But I got enough out of it to... f-figure out how to l-legitimately t-transfer a m-monsters mind into a r-robot. But the p-plans were... flawed. This guy knew _nothing_ about ghosts. So w-with a bit of my own research, I managed to f-fix his mistakes."

"sounds pretty perfect, what's the problem?"

"In order for it to work, he has to... d-d-die first."

"uh, oh."

"R-right. In order for F-flowey to transfer his body into this r-robot, he not only has to die, but he has to a-also c-consciously d-decide not to LOAD or RESET. H-he has to a-allow himself to die."

"which is something he'd absolutely never do. besides, if we sprung this little detail on him, he'd obviously assume we were just trying to get rid of him. he's a sociopath, he doesn't understand why we would have good intentions."

"E-exactly. H-he was trying to r-rationalize why I'd want to h-help him and he c-couldn't figure it out. I-if I say we h-have to kill him then..."

"that's his reason. in his mind, it'd explain everything."

"T-that's right. I... I d-don't want to hurt him, S-sans. H-he's... a good person inside. H-he j-just can't see it y-yet. I... I w-want to help him see it."

"you've got good intentions, but flowey would never actually let you-"

"I'll do it."

Alphys and Sans turned suddenly, as Flowey the Flower once again popped out of the ground with no warning.

"flowey? the hell? how long have you been there?"

"The whole time. I've been watching you since you started building the machine, and golly, were you working hard."

"S-seriously?! Y-you've been here the whole time?!"

"I had nothing better to do."

Alphys suddenly realized something.

"I was... w-working hard?"

"Yeah! For the last 30 something hours you've been working your ass off, and I don't get it! But... fuck it, let's get to the point. I don't trust you, Alphys. And I _certainly_ don't trust you, trashbag. But the fact is, I'm out of things to do. I have legitimately run out of endings. The only thing that's _never_ happened is... this. So, to be honest, I don't give a _damn_ if I die. Go ahead and kill me, you're not accomplishing anything. And if you're helping me..."

Flowey cringed.

"is 'thank you' the phrase you're thinking of?"

"L-let him by, Sans. L-let's get this over with."

"You're ready right now?"

"R-ready as I'll ever be."

"let's do this, then."

Alphys clenched her fists and her eye flashed purple for just a moment.

Alphys was filled with PERSEVERANCE.

45 minutes and a whole lot of explanation later, the setup was complete. Alphys had Flowey suspended over the heart-shaped core of what was once Mettaton EX, now refurbished as Mettaton BOSS.

"A-alright. I'm g-going to put you under, and in a few minutes, you'll be... d-dead. A-after that, you should c-come back to life, j-just like b-before. But with l-limbs now."

"Gotcha."

"W-when you d-die, you're gonna have to make the decision not to LOAD. Y-you've just g-got to q-quit."

"Alright."

"ready?"

"Ready."

"kay. here goes."

Sans pressed a few quick buttons on the computer panel he was sitting in front of, slowly pumping herbicide through Flowey's veins. The flower convulsed once before falling unconscious, his petals slowly turning brown.

"S-sans... do you think this is r-really gonna work? If even o-one thing goes w-wrong, he either dies permanently or LOADS, either one of which is equally bad for us."

"i dunno. biology was never my forte, certainly not ghost biology. but if _anyone_ can pull this off, alphie, it's you."

"T-thanks, S-sans. What are his vital signs at?"

"61 of 150 hp. dropping steadily at approximately 2 hp per second."

"Good. We've got to get him into it real fast after he dies. In theory, it should be able to work after any period of time, but... it's not an exact science."

"you've got this, doc. 37 hp."

"Ok. Let's get this thing started."

Alphys strode over to the other side of the Vessel, flipping a few quick switches on the currently uncovered right side of it's face, causing it to begin to hum and glow. She moved quickly back to Flowey as his HP dropped into the 20s.

"hp critical, alphie. we'd better make this quick."

"Alright. Begin lowering."

Sans pressed a few buttons himself, causing the lines that were holding Flowey to slowly extend, lowering him into the chassis. Alphys flipped one more switch and a red light began to glow in the Vessel's open core, dozens of tiny lasers zipping around the inside.

"5 hp. 4. 3. 2. 1. 0. it's now or never!"

"Now!"

Sans pressed one more button and the lines attatched to Flowey were quickly removed, flitting upward at high speeds. The flower itself fell into the chassis and was immediately deconstructed by the lasers, disintegrated at high speeds, leaving nothing but little speckles of white that were absorbed into the body.

"So far so good!"

"phase 2?"

"That's right."

Sans' eye ignited as he thrust his hand toward the vessel, blue magic surging from his body to the tiny bits of SOUL and dust inside it, keeping them from peacefully evaporating.

As Sans struggled to force Flowey's SOUL to stay in existence, Alphys flipped a switch on the table holding Mettaton BOSS, causing it to rise and leave the vessel in a sitting position. Alphys grabbed the vial of DETERMINATION she'd found in her lab, slamming it into the opening into the chassis' back, where it was sucked into the body.

"Ok. If this is going to work, it should in just a few seco-"

Suddenly, and much sooner than Alphys had expected it, a blinding flash of red light exploded from the vessel's core, and the machine began humming at an incredibly high pitch. Sans was fixing to teleport him and Alphys out of the area in fear that the vessel would explode, when the humming and light finally died down.

"W-whoah."

"no kidding."

"D-did it work?"

"don't ask me."

" _He's right. You should be asking me."_

"OH GOD! You're alive! It w-worked! YES!"

"we actually did it."

 _"Yep. And I feel better than ever. But I guess I should introduce myself."_

Flowey smiled before putting his hands on his hips and stepping forward, showing off his new body. To be honest, it wasn't too much different from Mettaton EX. Less hair, horns, goat ears. A few extra details and a Delta Rune decal in the center. Pretty simple stuff. But it was obvious that Flowey was proud of his new body.

 _"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the boss monster! And I am NEVER changing back!"_

Alphys and Sans were sitting side-by-side on Alphys' couch, simply basking in their recent successes. Flowey was temporarily satiated, and no longer had any DETERMINATION in a form that would be useful for SAVEing and LOADing. Much of the Underground was rebuilt, and when faced with real results, the monsters' attitude toward Queen Alphys was shifting into a positive light, Alphys and Sans were back on good terms, and everything seemed to be going the right way.

All of a sudden, Sans and Alphys simultaneously sat up, shouting out in unison.

"OH MY GOD!"

They turned to each other, wide-eyed, as they made the exact same revelation at the exact same moment.

They had rather casually brought Flowey back from the dead.

 _What was to stop them from doing the same with Papyrus, Undyne, or any of the other monsters?_

Alphys rushed inside and grabbed the two vials of DETERMINATION that were left over from her earlier experiments, the last two in existence. They were going to just be backups for Flowey, but now they were going to be conscripted into an entirely new purpose. She slammed her fist down on a button on her control panel, ordering the computer to begin building the baisic body of Mettaton BOSS, their successful prototype. They could add on the decals and personality later, but for now they only needed the **bare bones** minimum.

She rushed back outside to see Sans waiting impatiently for her. He instantly grabbed her hand and disappeared into thin air, reappearing near where Undyne the Undying had fallen, and then flashed out of sight again, heading for Snowdin.

He ran over to where Papyrus had died, using his blue magic to concentrate his brother's scattered dust and essence into one area, before placing it into the nearest available container, an empty flowerpot nearby.

"c'mon, paps. maybe we're not done yet."

He searched around for a lid to the pot for some time, before eventually settling on using blue magic to hold the dust inside it, which unfortunately prevented him from teleporting straight to Alphys. Instead, he opted to walk to her location, moving briskly and cheerfully.

He couldn't even _think_ of what it would be like to have Papyrus back again. He'd completely resigned himself to living without his brother, and he'd never even imagined that he would be able to hear Papyrus' voice calling to him every morning once again. His mood was instantly killed, however, when he caught sight of Alphys.

The little lizard monster was on her knees, bawling like he'd never heard, leaning over Undyne's remains. She was clearly doing her best to stop, but failing miserably.

"a-alphie? are you ok?"

"Damn it, Sans! S-she's gone! H-her SOUL, h-her dust, her essence, it's all gone! W-when she m-melted, everything just... It's nothing but mud! Normal mud! DAMN IT! Undyne... why did it have to be you!"

"d-damn it. alphie, i-"

"I was SO SURE! S-s-so sure! W-when she d-d-died the first t-time, I s-saw it coming. I e-expected it! I k-knew the Human c-could never be killed... but now... now I just..."

Alphys clenched her fists as an expression of pure agony covered her face.

"I was so sure that I could b-bring her back! I was so sure that we could... that we could have a life together. S-she was... she was so much better than me, so s-selfless. So h-heroic."

Alphys' sobbing had died down to a low, slow cry, tears constantly dripping down her snout.

"B-but... I t-thought... that somehow, w-we could... that _I_ could s-somehow s-sway her... t-to make her f-fall as d-deeply in love with m-me as I w-was with h-her. B-but... I g-guess it was always just a f-fantasy."

Sans stepped closer to Alphys, setting down Papyrus' remains with care as he approached her. He slowly knelt down to her.

The dust mingled with her tears as she realized it was all over. It had been days since the Human had killed Undyne, and she still had no way to bring her back.

She had been a fool to believe that she could bring her back. Life wasn't so kind to people. When you lost someone like that, they were never replaced. She let one more tear fall down her cheek before she flinched a bit in surprise at Sans wrapping his arms around her.

"i know this is hard. i know it hurts. but alphys... _we_ aren't a fantasy, are we? i know this is probably the worst time to say this, but... aren't _we_ real?"

"W-what?"

"c'mon, alphys. you can't talk about something like that without realizing it's happening right in front of you, right? hoping that maybe i could make her like me as much as i loved her? that maybe there was a way for us to be together, despite everything? alphys, you've got to realize that without my brother, i was about to kill myself, right? you kept me alive without my brother. and then i found out you were about to give him back to me. alphys, i'm the hero of the underground, but you're _my_ hero. you saved my life. please. let me return the favor."

Alphys was completely wide-eyed, turned away from Sans. How could something like this have passed by her. That everything Sans was doing for her, _to_ her... she was doing for him too? It was like a dream, that had turned out to be a nightmare, which had itself turned out to be a dream.

She absolutely couldn't beleive what was going on.

Everything was so great.

And then it was terrible.

And now it was amazing again.

She now realized she'd been wrong before. Life _did_ give second chances, at least to those who were luckiest. Flowey the Flower had a body once again, Papyrus the Skeleton was soon to be returned from death, and even if Alphys couldn't get her Undyne back, she could have the second best thing.

Or maybe even better. She was right about thinking Undyne was a fantasy. There was no way she could have ever swayed this waifu to love her any more than she could a fictional one. But Sans wasn't a fantasy. He was real, and she now realized that Undyne didn't matter anymore.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. And when life takes everything, you flick it off and take something else. Alphys was taking something else now, and it was truly wonderful.

She turned to Sans, gripped him in her arms, and did her best to forcefully kiss him. She failed of course, given that he was a skeleton and she was a lizard, so she instead opted to go for the slow, romantic route, both of them standing there among the dust, eyes closed, in something approximating peace.

It was true that she would never forget about Undyne, but maybe she could find someone better. Sans loved her like no one else ever had. She was pretty sure she'd dreamed about this once.

As she and Sans released each other, they gripped each other's hands one more time, and everything faded to white once again.


	7. Together

**Sorry about the formatting error when this chapter was originally posted. I originally wrote this story on Wattpad, and when I tried to post it something went wrong with the formatting fixed now, I hope.**

* * *

The Human was such a strange, enigmatic creature. Alphys didn't understand them, or why they did the things they did. She couldn't even figure out _how_ they did the things they did. The achievements they managed, the wonders they pulled off.

But none of it mattered now. They had left, and chances were she'd never see them in person again. Frankly, she didn't care.

Of course, that wasn't to say that she didn't love the Human. Of course she did. It wasn't to say that she wasn't absolutely floored by what they had done for them, as she was. It was just that with the monsters' new lives on the Surface, and her new life with Undyne, the Human wasn't necessary anymore. Before, she had worshiped the Human like some kind of wunderkind there to save them all.

And of course, they _were_ just that. But Alphys didn't need to have a hero anymore. She had one of her own. She didn't _need_ to interject herself into an adventure, because she had her own. The feeling of independence was staggering.

She stepped out of her house... her _home,_ and looked across the road to see Sans and Papyrus cheerfully laughing at each other for some indiscernible reason over in their front yard. Alphys smiled, happy for the both of them. She'd never seen two people so clearly opposites of each other, and yet who were so perfect in each others company.

Well, no, actually she did know some people like that. But she was amazed at how Sans and Papyrus were even _able_ to love each other that much. It was amazing. She mentally pitied the person who so much as _made fun of_ Papyrus, much less the person who actually hurt him. They would most likely have a most unpleasant time.

But no one had hurt Papyrus. And from the looks of things, no one would. She turned to her left and saw TORIEL and ASGORE, smiling and sitting silently side-by-side in a rocking chair on their front porch. Alphys chuckled under her breath. They acted like a couple of senior citizens, despite the fact that they had the physical age of a couple of 30-year-olds.

She flinched suddenly as she heard music begin to play with astonishing volume, a hip and modern tune, perfect for dancing. Mettaton couldn't get enough of his music.

Alphys smiled and began slowly counting down.

"Three... two... one... called it."

The moment she let out that "one," Mettaton's music had been instantly drowned out by that of his next-door-neighbor, cousin, and band partner Napstablook, who's taste in music was decidedly more... spooky. As the ghosts wordlessly argued with their speakers cranked up to full volume, Alphys smiled into the sky, wondering how the world could be this perfect. \

The dust mingled with her tears as she realized it was all over. It had been minutes since she lost consciousness and fell into her vision-ish dream world, and she had just returned to her senses.

Sans was knelt over her prostrate body, and breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes opened.

"you ok, alphie? or did that happen 'cause i let go? i'd be happy to fix that, of course."

"Y-you're taking t-this p-pretty well. And y-yeah. I'm f-fine. It was a... k-kinda weird vision, sorta."

"what's that mean?"

"It means the same thing it's _been_ meaning. When I touch something, I sometimes have these weird visions of... I don't even know what. The Human is in them, and I love them. And everyone is alive, and sometimes we're free. It's a nice relief from this world. And in them, I never remember... this world. It's just that one. And Undyne and Papyrus are still here, and I don't have to worry about keeping the Underground alive."

Sans and Alphys once again came to the exact same realization at the exact same time.

"The Underground."

At this point, Alphys had been neglecting her duties as Queen for days now. She sprinted off in the direction of New Home, while Sans carefully carried Papyrus' dust and essence, trodding slowly but urgently along.

Alphys was panicked and overwhelmed, but somehow in a good way. While she was horrified with herself for literally forgetting that she was the Queen of All Monsters, and grief-stricken at the discovery that Undyne's death was permanent, she was exited. Pumped up, even. Papyrus' chances of being revived hovered around 80%, and she and Sans were finally together, something that she'd been secretly wanting since a while after she became Queen. And now, when she really thought about it, she hadn't _lost_ anything. Undyne was dead, and she stayed dead. She had no right to act like it was an injustice that she didn't get her back more than once. On top of that, Papyrus was coming back, Flowey was satiated, and the Underground, statistically speaking, was safe.

Things couldn't be going worse, and yet they couldn't be going better. Genocide was a nightmare, but against all odds, queenship was a dream. But the irreconcilability of Undyne's death was a nightmare. Yet Sans' confession of love was a dream. She was sure she had made that exact connection before, but it was only now, making her way to... she didn't know quite what, that she really thought about it. For every good turn, there was a bad one, but then... every bad turn had it's own miniature happy ending.

Now that she thought about it, now that she felt the air going through her lungs and the DETERMINATION flowing through her veins, that she wasn't afraid of things going bad anymore. She _knew_ they were going to go bad. But then, she was just as confident, something good would happen and everyone would eventually end up better than they were before. Sure, the Underground was ruined for three lifetimes. But eventually, Undyne, Sans, Alphys, TORIEL, ASGORE, and Papyrus would be forgotten, and then... the Underground would be a new place. A place with new people, new faces, and, she hoped, happy faces.

Alphys peaked over a hill and looked downward before stepping backwards immediately, feeling a catch in her breath as she saw what was on the other side. A relatively large group of monsters, led by Snowdrake's father, Snowdraken, were arrayed in front of the lab. Fuku Fire was standing in front of the door, trying to block the way.

 **"I'm telling you guys, the queen isn't even _here!_ I just got here and couldn't find her or Sans either, so you're just gonna have to be patient!"**

"We haven't heard from the Queen in _days!"_

"Where is she!?"

"We demand answers!"

"Down with the lizard queen!"

Alphys steeled herself for what was to come. Suddenly, though, as the crowd advanced on Fuku, another figure stepped out of the lab.

Mettaton BOSS blocks the way!

"Why don't you guys mess with someone your own size instead of bullying a little _kid!"_

 **"What did you just call me you little-"**

"HEY!"

The monsters turned as Alphys cried out.

"You want me? I'm over here!"

Snowdrake's father rushed to the back of the crowd, which rapidly became its front as the monsters swiveled around in Alphys' direction. Flowey and Fuku didn't know quite how to react to this sudden turn of events. Snowdraken spread his wings intimidatingly as he advanced toward her.

"YOU! You worthless piece of trash! You murdered my son! You ruined my wife! You turned her into a FREAK! Just like you and those pieces of garbage that were backing you up back there!"

Fuku and Flowey decided not to respond.

"Really? I heard you _left_ your wife, Snowdraken. Days after you found out she was still alive, you left her. Because of nothing but her appearance. You know, I'm fairly certain that if you really love them, you'd take them back in despite _anything,_ melted or not. So why didn't you?"

"I _loved_ her! But I couldn't live side-by-side something like that!"

"Are you even _hearing_ yourself? "Loved." "Something." Not "Love" and "Someone." I admit I did wrong, Snowdraken. I'm sorry. I've apologized a thousand times. I've done literally _everything_ I can for you. Money, land, breaks on the work schedule, despite the fact that every hour you didn't work was another hour that one monster went _homeless._ I helped you through everything, Snowdraken. What more do you want?"

Everyone present was absolutely shocked by Alphys' behavior. She seemed cool, calm, collected, and fairly brutal in her criticism. Not the slightest bit shy, flustered, or cowardly. Not sugar-coating anything.

That is, almost everyone was shocked. Snowdraken was infuriated.

"W-why YOU! I'll tell you what I want! I WANT MY SON BACK, YOU BITCH!"

Snowdraken summoned up a large number of magical crescent-shaped feathers that he launched at Alphys. The queen stood there, steeling herself to maximize DF, doing her best to tank the attack.

But she didn't even need to, as demonstrated by the massive blast of force that barreled through the area like a hurricane, obliterating the magical projectiles and whipping Snowdraken through the air like he was caught in a tornado.

Sans the Skeleton was there, suddenly, standing in front of Alphys. Blue flame billowed out from his left eye as he smiled grimly.

Snowdraken got slowly to his feet, one wing on his sore neck. He was trembling in fear.

"now, i want you guys to all understand something, kay? alphie here is my girl, and if you mess with my girl..."

 **" ."**

Sans winked.

"get me?"


	8. Nobody Likes Timeskips

DEAR DIARY... WELL, THIS IS KIND OF AWKWARD, BUT... I HAVE NEGLECTED WRITING IN YOU FOR SOME TIME NOW. I HOPE THAT YOU WILL FORGIVE ME, BUT I KNOW THIS IS A SERIOUS OFFENSE. EITHER WAY, AFTER THE HUMAN KNOCKED ME OUT, I WAS APPARENTLY UNCONSCIOUS FOR A LONG TIME.

ALPHYS IS QUEEN NOW, AND SANS IS RULING ALONGSIDE HER. TO BE HONEST, I NEVER WOULD HAVE EXPECTED TO SEE SANS WORK SO HARD AT SOMETHING, SO I'M KIND OF GLAD THAT THAT'S HOW IT ALL WORKED OUT. THEN AGAIN, NO ONE HAS SEEN ASGORE IN A LONG TIME, AND UNDYNE AND METTATON ARE GONE, BUT... EVERYONE SAYS THAT THEY WERE TRUE HEROES. THEY WERE FORCED TO LEAVE FOREVER, BUT THAT THEY HELPED SAVE THE UNDERGROUND AS THEY DID IT. THAT'S AMAZING! I MEAN, BEING A HERO IS KIND OF UNDYNE'S THING, BUT I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED METTATON TO JUST... I DON'T KNOW, BE A TV STAR, NOT A HERO.

OH, I FORGOT TO TELL YOU! I'M ALSO A ROBOT NOW! AT FIRST, I HAD A PRETTY BORING BODY THAT LOOKED A LOT LIKE METTATON'S. I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT HAPPENED. I JUST SORT OF WOKE UP AND I WAS A ROBOT ALL OF A SUDDEN. BUT ALPHYS WAS ALREADY HARD AT WORK BUILDING ME A NEW ONE, AND NOW I KINDA LOOK A LOT LIKE I USED TO NOW, WHICH IS COOL.

EITHER WAY, I CAN'T HELP BUT FIND SANS AND ALPHYS EXTREMELY CUTE. I NEVER QUITE IMAGINED SANS AS THE TYPE OF PERSON TO HAVE A GIRLFRIEND, BUT I GUESS A LOT OF THINGS CAN CHANGE IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE AS STRANGE AS SANS AND ALPHYS ARE. EITHER WAY, THEY SEEM TO BE SPENDING PRETTY MUCH ALL THEIR TIME TOGETHER. IT IS HONESTLY KIND OF STRANGE TO NOT CONSTANTLY HAVE SANS AROUND.

ALTHOUGH TO BE COMPLETELY HONEST, I THINK HE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE FOLLOWING ME AROUND A LOT AND IS JUST LESS OBVIOUS ABOUT IT. EITHER WAY, THINGS ARE PRETTY COOL, OTHER THAN A LOT OF MONSTERS NOT BEING HERE. THE DOGS ARE GONE TOO. THAT'S REALLY SAD, ACTUALLY, BECAUSE I LIKED THE DOGS. BUT I GUESS THEY WENT WHEREVER UNDYNE AND METTATON DID. ANYWAY, NOBODY IS QUITE AS CHEERFUL AS I REMEMBER THEM. SANS SEEMS TO BE MAKING LESS PUNS AND SMILING A LITTLE LESS, WHICH IS ODD. IN FACT, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, IT SEEMS LIKE HE SHOULD BE HAPPIER THAN HE WAS BEFORE. HE SAYS HE _IS_ HAPPIER THAN HE WAS BEFORE. SO IT SEEMS STRANGE THAT HE ISN'T SMILING AS MUCH. BUT HE'S ALWAYS BEEN STRANGE.

ANYWAY, DESPITE EVERYTHING, THINGS ARE PRETTY GREAT DOWN HERE! THERE ISN'T A ROYAL GUARD, BUT ALPHYS SAYS THAT SHE'LL FORM ONE IF IT'S EVER NEEDED, AND THAT I CAN BE THE CAPTAIN! THAT'S AMAZING! CAN YOU IMAGINE, _ME_ GUARDING SANS AND ALPHYS! I CAN! I DO, ALL THE TIME!

ANYWAY, A GIRL MADE OF FIRE OPENED A NEW GRILLBY'S NEAR NEW HOME, AND SANS AND ALPHYS SPEND A LOT OF TIME THERE ALONG WITH THIS STRANGE ROBOT THAT I DON'T RECOGNIZE. IT'S KIND OF ANNOYING, BUT THE ROBOT NEVER GETS ALONG WITH ANYONE BUT THE FIRE GIRL, SO I'M GLAD THAT HE STAYS OUT OF THE WAY MOST OF THE TIME.

EITHER WAY, I SUPPOSE I SHOULD WRITE ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TODAY, TOO! WELL, UP TILL RECENTLY, THE FIRE GIRL HAS BEEN LIVING WITH US, AND SHE'S TRYING TO MOVE OUT NOW THAT THE BACK ROOM OF HER RESTAURANT HAS BEEN COMPLETED, AND SHE WANTS SANS AND ALPHYS' HELP PACKING. RIGHT NOW SHE SEEMS TO BE YELLING AT THEM. AND THAT IS ALL THAT IS GOING ON. I... MADE SOME SPAGHETTI! SANS HAS BEEN HELPING ME WITH COOKING, AND I THINK I'M DOING PRETTY WELL! BUT NOBODY HAS EATEN IT. POOR EVERYBODY.

I AM RUNNING OUT OF THINGS TO SAY, SO I WILL STOP. I DON'T SEE WHY I SHOULDN'T. BUT I AM STILL WRITING FOR SOME REASON! I CAN'T STOP! AAAAAAH! OH. WAIT. I'M RunnInG oUT Of ink. I haVe GOt to go. GoodbYe!

* * *

 _Daily log #0001, day 1 of the second year of Queen Alphys' reign._

 _Well, this has been interesting. Alphys suggested that we all start writing some sort of diary or log, and as stupid as that sounds, since I can do it just by thinking about it, I figured, "what the hell, why not?" So anyway, things are... weird. They have been for a long time. I'm in something like Mettaton BOSS version 5.75.01, and that nerd has been updating it what seems like every day. It's pretty cool, though. It really does feel just like my old body. Same height, same body shape, and it even has more powerful magic now. So as annoying as it is to have to be worked on all the time, it_ is _improving, to be honest.  
_

 _Anyway, nobody else is going to read this so I might as well be frank. He he he..._

 _Golly. Things have been turning on their head recently. I mean, really on their heads. I'm_ feeling _things. I'm actually feeling things regularly now. I don't know if it's this body, or the same effect that happened back with Alphys when she touched me, or if maybe it's all the monster SOUL shards floating around in the air, but one way or another I'm feeling emotions again. Sure, I'm not my old self, but I_ want _to be. That never happened when I was a flower. When I was a flower I didn't miss anything, but now I do! It's a step in the right direction, anyway. I really don't know what to say, or who to thank.  
_

 _Oh. That's another thing. I feel the_ need _to thank someone. My empathy is coming back._

 __I guess I'm only_ partly _a psychopath. But things still aren't perfect. Smiley trashbag is still just as annoying as ever, and even if his brother isn't quite as bad, he's still IMPOSSIBLE to deal with. On top of that, even though I appreciate everything Alphys has done for me, she's still completely insufferable. I can't stand how much of a nerd she is, and how she constantly forces me into conversations that I JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT. And Fuku, she just... well, she just... Fuku is OK, I guess.__

 _ _But other than her, everybody is driving me nuts. And I can't kill any of them either, since Alphys has still probably got her finger on my self-destruct button, and, as Sans constantly reminds me- "no resets!"__

 _ _That piece of crap. Anyway, now that the pointless updates are gone, where were we. Oh, yeah. Sans is sitting on the couch with Alphys sleeping in his lap, and he is_ refusing _to help Fuku pack. God, he invites her into his house, but he isn't gonna help her leave. Whatever, I guess if you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself.__

* * *

 **Dear fucking diary.**

 **Fuku Fire here, with the daily announcements, because apparently Alphys wants us to keep track of how things are going for the future, because apparently when we're gone, people are going to want to know. I'm pretty sure she doesn't realize that Flowey is just keeping them internally. Besides, does she not realize that she's literally the only one here who ages? I'm gonna be around forever, or up until somebody kills me, and so is Flowey and Papyrus and Sans, so why does it matter? We can just tell people how things were.**

 **But I guess the Queen can't be perfect, can she? Whatever. One way or another, things have been going pretty good. The Underground's population is back up, nearly to 300, which is impressive for just one year. The population has more than tripled since the Human bit the dust. I guess without Mettaton to entertain them, the monsters turned to... other ways to pass the time.**

 **Freakin' geniuses, eh? Well, one way or another, the Underground is no longer a shadow of its former self. In fact, it's more of a projection of its former self. It's like, despite losing everything, we were somehow able to build it back up. Sure, the emotional wounds are ones that will never be healed, but we're all doing our best to see the bright side of things. It's a pity that we ran out of DETERMINATION after we revived Papyrus and Snowdrake, but that's the way life is. Death is death, you know?**

 **Kinda pissed at Alphys though. I get that she missed Undyne and Mettaton, but Mettaton already had enough statues, and isn't 150 feet tall a bit overkill? I get it, she's the queen, but we have more important things to do than sculpt massive statues of fish and robots. Just NEO's wings alone took over 50 days and 10000 GOLD, and those are JUST THE WINGS! Granted they were a bitch to build, but nonetheless, she needs to get control of herself. Undyne was a true heroine. I get it. But EVERYONE KNOWS IT. There's no need for her to go overboard like this.**

 **Anyway, she did do one good thing. I couldn't have possibly opened a new Grillby's location without her help and funding, and now business is booming.  
**

 **Which is a PROBLEM, because I had to CLOSE it in order to MOVE! And I need SANS' help to move because HE has blue magic and therefore HE can pack my bags in FIVE MINUTES, when it would take me DAYS. And yet ALPHYS is SLEEPING IN HIS LAP, and he is REFUSING to wake her up, meaning that I can't GET OUT OF HERE to reopen HIS favorite resteraunt!  
**

 **Damn it, I swear, if they weren't so cute together, I'd be so furious right now.  
**

 **Oh, wait, looks like Flowey's coming to help me out. I guess after Sans, a robot is the next best thing. I don't get why Sans and Alphys don't trust him. They're always saying "you watch out for that guy, he may seem nice, but he's really a psycho," or "I t-trust him, but..."**

 **But nothing, Flowey is a great guy. See ya never again, diary.**

* * *

yup, i'm actually writing something. betcha nobody coulda seen this comin'. but it's happenin'. alphie is off doin' her queen stuff, and it's my day off, so i figured i might as well get started writin'.

see, she said she wanted us to write diary entries from now on, and as little sense as that makes, what she wants she gets. ya wouldn't think i'd be so intimidated by that tiny little lizard, but dammit i am. anyway, she's great. she may have been slackin' 'till pap woke her up this mornin', but i gotta hand it to her, the second she got off my lap she was workin' like a dog, just like always. being the queen of all monsters is a full time job, and she sure does treat it like one, that's for sure. anyway, fuku's furious at me for not helping her pack, and i'm pretty sure flowey is too for some reason.

i never saw that one comin', let me tell you.

but ignoring that, this place is the real deal. everything is goin' just as good or better than is was before, other than... yeah, all of that. i know i should be greivin' and everything, but i just... can't. i feel so great. not great like before, but great like... like nothing i've ever known before. i was just a little baby before the barrier went up, and i don't remember what my parents were like. asgore's told me that my father was a war hero, but i didn't really care about that.

my only chance to be happy had flown out the window when the barrier went up, and now... well, it flew back in. i mean, i never would've expected.

damn it, i feel terrible. everyone lost someone but me. i lost papyrus but now he's back, and after alphie and me hooked up, it's been like nothing ever went wrong. it makes me feel bad to be so happy, but i _am._ despite everything that happened, i'm _happy._ for once in my life, i really am happy.

heh heh heh.

i really am a freak, aren't i? well, one way or another, alphie really is great. if there was one thing i _did_ do right, it was keeping her intact that first day. can't imagine where i'd be now without her.

Dear Diary.

Today was _wonderful._ I know it shouldn't have been, but it _was._ Undyne's statue is finally complete, and it's ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. On top of that, Fuku is moving out of the house, so I can finally get some personal space. Sans can't seem to get tired of her, but _I do._ And so, to be honest, I'm glad she's leaving. And oh my god I'm flipping out. Sans is treating me like a _wife,_ and I love it. I mean, obviously we're two different species, but we're no racists here! I mean, sure, maybe he never said anything about getting married, but I know he's thinking it!

Ok, maybe he's not. BUT I AM. The Underground needs a King and it is going to get one, no matter what it takes! I mean, obviously it's kinda his job to take the initiative, but that doesn't mean that I can't push it along! Seriously though, we've been _living together_ for a year now, he needs to get off his ass _some time!_ But I can't stay mad at him. I mean, he's seriously the only reason I'm Queen, the only reason I'm successful as Queen, and the only reason I'm _alive!_ We need to make some serious steps forward in this relationship.

oh my god did i just put all that on paper.

Ok, ok, ok. Calm down, Alphys, nobody is gonna read this until I'm _loooooong_ dead. So it's not a problem.

THAT'S NOT EVEN WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE WRITING ABOUT. So _instead_ of making a fool of myself, I am just going to calm down, take some deep breaths, and write about something people are gonna _care_ about in the future.

MEW MEW KISSIE CUTIE 2 IS TRASH.

Ok, how about something else. So, the Underground is doing great. The CORE is running at over 99%, almost all of the Underground has been rebuilt, and almost _everyone_ is happy. In fact, even the Monster Kid has mostly calmed down since I started building Undyne's statue. You just can't argue with a 150 foot tall pomer-granite statue. No humans have fallen, but we can't expect that to happen any time soon, and nobody really wants it to. Despite everything the Human did, our hatred for them as a _race_ has gone down quite a bit. Maybe it was what Undyne and Mettaton said. That the Human was going to kill the other humans too, and that they were proving the rest of their race wasn't like that.

Flowey disagrees, of course. It's always "kill or be killed," but you can't expect much more from a sociopath and psychopath. Even then... whenever he mentions anything about killing humans, there's something in his tone. Like he's remembering something, maybe?

This probably deserves more attention. Let me explain. Recently, more and more, Flowey has been doing things... that a sociopath shouldn't be doing. He's been actively talking about other peoples' emotions, and even if he doesn't realize it, he never did that before. He uses the phrase "I feel," which seems like some sort of subconscious way of revealing that something is changing inside.

I'm thinking that maybe, somehow, he's regaining his emotions. If he is, this is wonderful. It's INCREDIBLE, in fact. Papyrus had his emotions from the moment he was revived, but that was because Sans specifically took care to get every last fleck of dust and particle of SOUL, causing him to be over 99% intact after the transfer. But ASRIEL's SOUL is gone, and so he _shouldn't_ be able to. Yet somehow, it's happening. I don't really understand, but I guess that's how everything goes. I'm no expert, but who cares? I'm sure he's remembering Chara, and _that_ is what means something. So, one way or another, things are going well.

And as far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty damn happy.


End file.
